Louise

Chapter 36

When at last the carriage halted before Lucy's home, Louise's heart raced with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. The house was old and worn, but it held a certain air of dignity despite its dilapidated state. 

As she climbed the creaky stairs, Louise knocked on the door. She took a deep breath, steeling herself against the memories that threatened to overwhelm her. She could hear faint sounds of weeping coming from within. Her stomach knotted at the thought of seeing her sister in such a state, but she forced herself forward, her determination growing with each step.

The door was opened by an elderly servant who greeted her with a solemn nod. "Miss Lucy has been expecting you." Her voice was soft and trembling, as if she were trying to hold back her own tears. "Please, follow me." The servant led Louise through a dimly lit hallway, the air heavy with the scent of lavender and camphor. They passed by several closed doors before arriving at a spacious, sunlit room at the end of the hall.

"Louise...my dear sister." Lucy's feeble voice greeted Louise as she entered the room. Approaching the canopy bed, Louise braced herself against the sight of the once-vibrant woman now reduced to a shadow of her former self. Her face was gaunt, her skin light brown and papery, and her once-lustrous hair had turned brittle and grey. Yet despite her frailty, there was still an undeniable spark in her eyes as they met Louise's own.

This dim shadow of her sister reminded Louise all too painfully of their shared mortality. Bitterness and anger melted away, leaving only sadness for things now past and perhaps regrets for things left unsaid.

Lucy grasped Louise's hand with bony fingers, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "Sister...I know I have wronged you in unfathomable ways. My heart turned to stone, and I became someone unrecognizable to myself. I can't begin to apologize for all the pain I've caused, but I want you to know that I am truly sorry."

Tears streamed down her face. "I was blinded by wealth and status, casting aside the sacred bond we once shared." She paused, gathering her strength before continuing. "Only now, facing death's door, have my eyes been opened to all that I so foolishly squandered. The dream I chased has crumbled to ashes in my hands." Lucy's grip on Louise tightened. "I beg your forgiveness with my last ounce of strength, though I deserve it not."

Louise gazed down at her diminished twin, unable to speak for the lump in her throat. Though Lucy had hurt her deeply in the past, Louise felt the lingering bitterness drain from her heart. "

Sister, I cannot condone how you treated me; your rejection wounded me profoundly," Louise began, her voice gentle yet firm. "But as we stand today at the ending of all roads, I find my heart cannot cling to former grievances. Our bond was forged in blood, and nothing in this world can sever it. So, I forgive you, Lucy."

Hearing this, Lucy wept and clutched Louise's forgiving hand. When she calmed, Lucy rasped, "Will you permit me then to fully explain the wretched circumstances which brought me to such a woeful end?" Louise agreed and sat beside her.

"After you were so unjustly expelled from the only home we'd ever shared, dearest Louise, Aunt Abigail wasted no time arranging an advantageous match for me. The loathsome creature selected was a vulgar businessman thirty years my senior named Hiram Abbott. But his fortune blinded Aunt Abigail to such defects of age or personality. I pleaded desperately not to marry him, but my pleas fell on deaf ears."

Lucy's breath grew ragged as she relayed memories best forgotten. "So, at fifteen years of age, still little more than a child, I found myself shackled in marriage to this Abbott. On our wedding night, he...he..." Her voice faltered, and she paused, struggling to find the words to describe the horrors she had endured. "He was...he was a monster," she finally managed to whisper. "I spent the next two decades trapped in a living hell, a prisoner in my own home. He beat me, starved me, and forced me into his disgusting bed."

Louise clasped Lucy's hand more tightly, tears in her own eyes to hear such cruelty. She listened as her sister described the years of torment she had endured, the hopelessness and despair that had become a part of her daily existence.

Nodding gratefully, Lucy continued. "In the two years I endured as Abbott's wife, I was fortunate to birth no children. Then one morning I discovered his motionless form at the breakfast table. A heart attack, the doctor said. I released a breath I hadn't realized I held since speaking my wedding vows. But bound by his will and the unyielding law of the land, I was cruelly stripped of home and finances by Abbott's nearest male relative. When I desperately fled back to beg mercy from Aunt Abigail, she turned me out without a shred of pity."

Lucy released a bitter laugh between ragged gasps for air. "How blindly I had trusted in her, believing all her false promises of protection and love. But in the end, even Aunt Abigail could not be relied upon." Her expression grew distant as she recalled her wanderings after being turned away from the only home she had ever known. "Very soon, I found out I was carrying Abbot's child..."

"It was only then, cast ruthlessly away and carrying Abbott's unwanted child, did I comprehend how I had been manipulated and betrayed from the start." Lucy closed her eyes, the memories of those dark times threatening to overwhelm her once more.

"With no family to turn to, I wandered in destitution until Theodore's birth. We somehow survived only by my clinging fiercely to the hope life would improve for us. But I was informed that once Theodore is of age Abbott's fortune would pass to him. But then illness has struck me, and I soon shall abandon my son as well." She broke down into fresh sobs, the weight of her despair almost too much to bear.

"Dearest Theodore has no one now. Louise, I know I ask too much after the unforgivable wrongs I have committed against you," Lucy choked out. "Yet would you find it in your heart to care for my precious son when I am gone?" Her eyes were desperate, pleading for understanding.

At that moment, a child of age 4, Theodore, came running into the room. His features were a mix of his mother and father, though he had more of his mother's delicate beauty. He climbed onto the bed and hugged his mother tightly. "Mama, I heard you crying," he said, his voice filled with concern. "What's wrong?"

"My darling, this is your Aunt Louise," Lucy whispered through relentless tears. "She is going to watch over you now." Theodore looked at her, confused. "But you said you would always be with me," he protested. "You promised."

Louise turned to the boy, her heart aching for him. "Your mother is very ill, Theodore," she said gently. "But she loves you very much, and she wants what's best for you. And she thinks that I can help take care of you now." She smiled sadly at the little boy. "I will do my best to make sure you are happy and safe, just like she always has."

Theodore looked at his mother, then back at Louise, his eyes filled with uncertainty. Finally, he nodded slowly. "All right, Mama," he whispered, hugging her tightly. "But I want you to know that I will always miss you."

"I vow here in the sight of God that I shall shelter and raise this precious child as my very own son," Louise said, her voice strong and steady despite the lump in her throat. "He shall never want for love, protection, or care."